A small vial like this one was discovered missing from a similar box kept inside a locked freezer at the secure Galveston National Laboratory.

Written by

Alison Young
USA TODAY

Officials at a maximum-security research lab in Texas report that a vial of a potential bioterror agent is missing, but they say it's likely that the virus has been destroyed and poses no danger.

The incident, voluntarily disclosed by the Galveston National Laboratory, comes amid growing concerns about security and safety risks at labs researching germs and toxins that could be used as bioterror weapons.

Scott Weaver, the Galveston lab's scientific director, said Monday that a routine check last week led to the discovery that one of five small plastic vials of an obscure virus called ...